Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Cheesecake Factory shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $79.62 after opening the day at $78.17. The move reflects strong recent momentum in CAKE shares.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, posting $1.05 EPS versus $1.03 expected and revenue of $978.83 million versus $964.57 million. Revenue rose 5.6% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock despite the rally: the consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $64.94, while recent updates included a JPMorgan upgrade and a Citigroup downgrade.

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $79.62 and last traded at $79.5270, with a volume of 133935 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus set a $72.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.94.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.18 and a 200-day moving average of $60.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.8% during the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 5,802 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated NASDAQ: CAKE is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.

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